THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1913 ECONOMY-PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 31 January 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1913 ECONOMY-PUBLIC AND PRIVATE.

The persistence with which certain financial magnates of this. Dominion, are drumming frugality and economy into the ears of the public, is suffi-. cient to create a feeling of pessimism, if .not alarm, in the minds of the Public. .We . have the; "chairman pf directors .of one of our leading ba-n,king institutions telling -us that our. exports and imports are so dangerously, close to one another as to become a, (positive menace to financial stability.. He does not stop to explain why he makes this deduction, or how. an abinarmal increase . in imports implies danger ahead. He merely makes the statement, and allows the public to form their own'conclusions. The innocent public, a.s often as not, accepts the deduction a.g rational, and is quite reconciled to the "turning down" process when the banker is appealed to for an advance. It may suit the books of bho financial institutions to squaTo their accounts at given periods', and to'ttse the bogey of imports and. exports to this end. Butimen of busifness acumen- ■ will require more convincing xvyidence than the increase in imports to satisfy them that a financial stringency in reality exists, or that .. there is* any necessity to practice unnecessary private economies. The relation of the imports to the exports is certainly indicative in some measure of the financial conditon of a State. For instance, if the exports were valued at £'20.000,000, and the imports at £10,000,000, there would be room for apprehension, for, as our main source of revenue is our exports, we should require to know where the money was t:> come from to pay for the goods Imported. When, however, the value of our exports is as high as that of our imports, there should be j no need for alarm. The Official Year I Book, whidli lias just been issued, ■shows that the imports for 1911, exclusive of specie, amounted to £lB,782,608 in value/while the exports were valued a-fj -£15,781,898. It will thvw bo ftoeu tliat our exports and imports were approximately the same, la 11)10 tiho exports were valued at £21,944,963, ftnE the imports , at £16,tfB;S23. These flgOres wtmld' indicate flia? ttfs positrons fit 1910 .iras much

more satisfactory than in 191.1. It ■must be remembered, -however, tluit the price of produce was not as high | in the latter yo.tr as.in the former, ] and the probabilities are that the in- i crease in the imports in 1 !>ll was due J in a measure to the- excellent prices obtained in the previous year. In any caso, tiie country h;!> not com mi Wed itself to obligations t,iiat it has not the money to meet. The fact that, the imports have inert a.M\l l.y nearly £5 per header population dining the last eight .years, shows that the spending power of the peoolo has enormously expanded, and if the exports have not increased in tin* same ratio, the private wealth iia-s shown immense development. There is reason to hope that, with the prices of produce that have ruled during the past twelve months, and the splendid seasons experienced, the return for 1912 will bo eminently satisfactory. The heads of financial institution* may find it con- ! venient, when the ■exports are declining, to restrict- their advances to importers. Tlie.v are hardly justified, however, in refusing advances that, are neces.sa.rv for the internal development of the country, or in counselling those possessed of private wealth to practice economy. It riot infrequently happens that private moneylenders avail themselves of a pro- ' nouncement of financial stringency by the banks, to extort exorbitant rates jof interest from those requiring ! money. This is uot conducive to the progress and development of the State. It may be granted that the Government is a. little difficulty in procuring loan money for the prosecution of public works. Th:.s does not by any -means imply a general depression. On the contrary, the absorption of hundreds of men who have been put off the public works in i farm and other employment, is evidence that there is an abundance of ' private wealth in the Dominion. The Prime Minister assured us at Hastings on Wednesday night that the finances of the Dominion were in a buoyant condition, and £h.o whole of the indications point to a period of continued prosperity. This being so, it is prudent nor just that heads of financial institutions should j seek to create a- imild form of panic ! in the country.